Sometimes a Loop Cannot Be Broken
by StarterUpAlec
Summary: Speculation for how Nora and Ray will leave LoT season 5 T to be safe Mallus, a time demon. Ray and Nora, both prior demon vessels. What's a person to do?


"Don't do this!"

"There's no other choice!"

Both statements ring out around the empty space, harsh to each others ears.

"Please!" He begs.

"Leaving is the only thing to keep you safe!" She shouts back, tears flowing from her eyes.

"I can't live without you! You're the reason why I came!" He pleads, stepping closer.

"That doesn't mean I owe you anything!" She responds in turn, matching his steps.

"If this is about him-"

"It is! What else would we be doing this for?"

He sighs, shaking his head.

"Is there any way I can stop you from picking him over me?"

She smiles through her tears, mimicking his response.

"Never."

"Will you at least let me say goodbye?"

He asks, stopping halfway across the vast space.

"If it means I can go freely, yes."

She says, stepping forward gingerly.

They embrace, all but kissing each other as if this was their last touch.

"I'm sorry."

He murmurs into her head, cradling her close. She sobs, pushing herself closer as if to stick to him permanently.

"Why do you have to be like this?"

She mutters, entwining her fingers with his.

"If I wasn't… would you have let me be?"

She laughs then, wiping away another tear.

"Of course not."

"Then you know why."

"I just want more time."

She says, feeling nauseous.

He shushes her lightly, a light humming barely audible over her tears.

Something like a knife twists into her chest, and she looks down, tears blurring her vision. A single spear of energy flowing from his hand sticks from her gut, and she whimpers, collapsing into his arms.

"I love you Raymond. I'm sorry I let this happen."

Mallus smiles back, forming something so close and yet so far, a twisted mockery of Ray's smile.

"I know, Nora. If you hadn't insisted on doing all this, you could have left. Why didn't you?"

"Because…" she choked a little, coughing up a touch of blood. "I love you. And he took you from me."

"But Nora," He starts, caressing her face gently, "I'm the one who gave him to you. Goodbye, my little Darhkling. I will miss you so."

"You can suck it, you piece of sh-"

\--

Little Nora, sitting in one of the chairs scattered about the hospital waiting room, noticed a man standing on the other side of the room, carefully maneuvering as to not hit anyone. He had a strip of cloth across his eyes, almost like a bandage covering up something horrifying. She pushes off from the chair and skips over to him, tugging his pant leg. "Hi!" She chirps, dancing around him. "You're new here! What's your name?"

He kneels by her, head tilted slightly as if to catch the words she spoke. "My name's Raymond. I'm here because I'm blind." Raymond points to the cloth covering his eyes. "Whazthat?" She asks, plopping down beside him. He gives a soft chuckle, pulling her a little closer. "It means I can't see, not how you see the world with your beautiful little eyes!" He tickles her, her pealing laughter seeming to relax him just slightly.

"How exactly do you know I'm new?" He asks, leaning back against the wall. "I've been here a lot of times ever since Mommy got sick and Daddy couldn't take me anywhere!" She blurts out, fingering his cloth. He lightly slaps away her hand, adjusting the cloth to keep his eyes covered. "Do you know everyone that comes here?"

"Yep! That's old man Dean and his caretaker Colin, there's Mr. Tyler with his wife Laney, Ms. Candy and the guy she's crushing on, Mr. Gust, and then there's you now!" She squeals, poking his chest. "So many people," he responded, nudging away her prying fingers. "Why are you here?"

"I just lost my mommy and daddy, and auntie says she's going to take me in to make sure I grow up big and strong!" Little Nora says, hugging him. "If you ever come back here, try and find me! All these people make me feel so happy."

Raymond smiles back, hugging back. "Of course little Nora. Anytime you feel upset or sad, I'll be waiting here, ready to tell stories full of magic, monsters, time travelers and even a little romance."

\--

"She doesn't understand me!" burst from Little Nora's lips, and she pouted, hugging herself tightly. "What doesn't she understand?" Raymond asks, moving a little closer. "She doesn't understand that you're my friend, she says I'm just talking to myself, making up nonsense!"

"Well, little one, if you say yes, I can take you far away, a place filled with magic and all the time in the world, and we can take some of that and help your auntie to see that I'm real." He suggests, grinning wide at her. "That sounds great!" She chirps, settling into his arms. "When can we go?"

"Once you say yes."

"Yes!"

"Then away we go!" Raymond says, holding her close. "Shut your eyes, don't want to spoil the magic for you."

\--

It's almost too simple for him.

Dropping off little Nora to his alternate self to do whatever with, Mallus takes a second to simply stop and wait on a park bench, enjoying breathing, living, just purely existing.

_When will I be able to see again…_

Ray murmurs gently in their mind, his own dense and clouded to prevent him from rebelling.

_In time, little one. Once the Legends realise you're both gone, and they come to find you._

_Oh. Okay…_

He trails off, consciousness slipping off into a mild slumber. Mallus sighs, running his, no, Ray's fingers across the wood grains of the bench. He's missed this. The quiet times before he was locked away, where he could enjoy a nice, summer day, or an intense battle, leading his followers to war.

_Mine_.

Ray shudders in his unaware state, soothed by Mallus' calming waves of tranquility. This was his body now, may as well embrace the facade of Raymond Palmer. After all, he was very good at pretending. Knowing full well it would be hard to release his grip on this mask, he sighs, spreading his mind to cover Ray's very thinly.

Standing from the bench, Ray checked his cloth scrap, ensuring that it was safely tightened. Mallus controlled his eyes, and he couldn't let him see what he was doing while away from the Legends. Pulling out his phone, he fumbled around for the right app, then hit the appropriately raised button.

"Hey, Sara? I think I got lost somewhere, do you mind picking me up? I can't see, so not too sure where I am. Sounds like a park, with lots of birds and dogs chasing them. Why can't I see? I need to get back to explain, it's too long of a story! What? Nora's dead? How, where are you?"

Still babbling on, the corners of Ray's mouth peak up into a slight grin.

This was going to be so much fun.

\--

Mallus laughs, long and loud.

The others state at him as if he's lost his mind.

"Ray? You ok?" Sara asks, gripping her staff a little bit tighter.

"You never found out! It's almost too funny!" He gasps, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Found out what..?" Nate cautiously asks.

"That I'm not even Ray! That I'm literally fulfilling the past, changing things that shouldn't happen, and nothing's different! It all leads back to this!" He shouts, clutching his sides to contain his laughter.

"Ray's dead! He's long gone, evaporated inside me! I am him, and he's me! **I** put Nora on the path to myself, using the man she'd come to love!"

"It's a loop and it'll never stop!"

Even as the team tore him to pieces, Ray laughed, in pain, in suffering, in elation, in permanence.

After all, he'd just restart the cycle again, wouldn't he?


End file.
